564 episodes
Friendly Atheist Podcast Friendly Atheist Podcast
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- Religion & Spirituality
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4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
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Hemant Mehta and Jessica Greiff cover the latest news, politics, and pop culture with a focus on atheism and religion.
This is the official podcast for FriendlyAtheist.com.
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Whiplash with the Southern Baptists
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— What it means to have Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. (0:30)
— A Southern Baptist leader praised Biden's "selfless" act. Then he was fired. Then he was unfired. (8:35)
SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/atheist and get 10% off your first month. (34:58)
— New Zealand report finds 200,000 abuse victims in care of state, faith-based groups. (35:57)
— A Texas public school superintendent won't stop promoting Christianity at work. (50:17)
— Tennessee district owes over $15,000 after illegally thwarting After School Satan Club. (1:06:40)
— Survey: 37% of Americans are Creationists (but a record-high 24% accept reality). (1:12:16)
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The Problems with J.D. Vance
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— Vice presidential pick J.D. Vance is just Trumpism rebranded. (0:30)
— Televangelist Kenneth Copeland's family prayed for Donald Trump's ear. (15:44)
— "The left is godless": Why a MAGA spokeswoman's attack makes no sense. (21:25)
— Former Southern Baptist leader accused of sexual assault: At least it wasn't "adultery." (28:02)
— Democrats to IRS: Investigate right-wing groups that pretend to be "churches." (1:01:15)
— Oklahoma superintendent rejects Bibles in schools despite Ryan Walters' demands. (1:13:59)
— Kentucky church shuts down after pastor charged with child sex abuse. (1:20:01)
SPONSOR: Go to Butcherbox.com/friendly and use code friendly at checkout and enjoy your choice of bone-in chicken thighs, top sirloins, or salmon in every box for an entire year, plus $30 off!
SPONSOR: This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at BetterHelp.com/atheist and get on your way to being your best self. Plus, get 10% off your first month with that link.
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Project 2025 and the GOP Platform
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Jessica and I spoke about several stories from the past week involving religion and politics.
— The GOP’s 2024 platform is a dream come true for Christian Nationalists. (2:59)
— A desperate Donald Trump wants to distance himself from Project 2025. Here's why. (29:12)
— 14 Christians go on trial in Australia after "faith-healing" death of 8-year-old girl. (35:20)
— Texas pastor fined after illegally using church donations to boost his city council campaign. (41:45)
— Canadian megachurch halts services after insurers pull sex abuse coverage. (51:00)
— LifeWise Academy sues Ohio man who posted their entire Bible curriculum online. (58:33)
— Oklahoma Dept. of Education will force teachers to use the Bible in public schools. (1:15:25)
— "God’s Not Dead 5," a film no one asked for, already has a trailer. (1:31:22)
— Two influential atheist groups are in court battling over one man's large donations. (1:37:23)
SPONSOR: Go to Butcherbox.com/friendly and use code friendly at checkout and enjoy your choice of bone-in chicken thighs, top sirloins, or salmon in every box for an entire year, plus $30 off!
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An Interview with Actress Janie Haddad Tompkins
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Janie and Jess discussed growing up Catholic in the south, the SAG-AFTRA strike, and what to do if someone calls you crazy.
SPONSOR: Go to Butcherbox.com/friendly and use code friendly at checkout and enjoy your choice of bone-in chicken thighs, top sirloins, or salmon in every box for an entire year, plus $20 off!
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A Chat with Two Christian Hate-Preachers
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I recently spoke with hate-preachers Jonathan Shelley and Aaron Thompson about all the awful things they've said. It was disturbing. It ran very long. I'm still not sure why I did it. But I hope you find it interesting because it's not often people like this will sit down with someone like me.
SPONSOR: Celebrate Independence Day by going to Butcherbox.com/friendly and enjoy your choice of bone-in chicken thighs, top sirloins, or salmon in every box for an entire year. Use code friendly60 to get an additional $20 off your first three orders!
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Reporter Bob Smietana and the Southern Baptist Convention
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This week, I spoke with religion reporter Bob Smietana about the Southern Baptist Convention's recent gathering. We talked about women pastors, IVF, the denomination's handling of sexual abuse, and so much more.
SPONSOR: Go to Butcherbox.com/friendly and use code friendly at checkout and enjoy your choice of bone-in chicken thighs, top sirloins, or salmon in every box for an entire year, plus $20 off!
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Customer Reviews
Toxic masculinity has no place here
As a straight, white man I must say that Jesica’s latest rant about toxic masculinity was quite upsetting to listen to. The guy complaining about her rants obviously tuned her out and never listened to the details - otherwise he would have never said that to her. That she has to put up with that nonsense is what upsets me.
This is a podcast that highlights some of the worst things about mankind. I find it fascinating, informative, disturbing, and (sometimes) entertaining. The contrast of one person looking at these topics from a logical, well-researched perspective and one reacting live works very well here.
As someone who had very little direct exposure to the sorts of people they talk about, it helped me stay sane when I had a boss who would spout conspiracy theories on a nearly daily basis and not listen to any logical counterpoints. While I long since got away from him, I continue to listen to this podcast every week.
My favorite podcast.
I’m a man of few words so this will be brief. Once you get used to Hemant’s delivery style and Jess’s interruptions you’ll see that the substance of this show is second to none. They cover the important stories and do so with a little humor. I never miss a show.
Been listening for years
I have been following Hemant for years and I really appreciate his professional take on recent events.